


Ghosts

by AzuraJae



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Dreams, Engram!V, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Male-Female Friendship, One Shot, Temperance Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28985994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzuraJae/pseuds/AzuraJae
Summary: There was suddenly a cold wind, or something resembling that. It brushed his shoulder, like someone’s hand, causing him to whirl around in shock. Nothing was there, but a voice suddenly announced it’s presence, on the other side of that diner table.‘Hey.‘It wasn’t like the voice was really there, more like it just appeared in his head. But even if he couldn’t really hear it, Johnny knew who it belonged to. There was no way he was going to forget.
Relationships: Johnny Silverhand & Female V, Johnny Silverhand & V
Comments: 1
Kudos: 23





	Ghosts

_ “Smoking is for fucking posers. And it stinks.” _

Those words reverberated through his mind, a haunted hollow echo that whispered through the empty halls of where someone used to be. He could never forget how stubborn that crazy woman had been. Though looking back, maybe it was a matter of her own principles, not that she hated smoking.

Johnny could still remember the exasperated annoyance on her face when she looked at him at the time, rain dripping down her face and hair, drenched to the bone, holding the damn pack of smokes. 

Whenever the urge of nicotine spiked up nowadays, her voice would tell him off in his head, almost like a curse. Or maybe, that’s what he really wanted to hear. She wasn’t here after all.

But the guilt of not smoking was nowhere near as intense as the dysphoric guilt of wearing her skin and left her to a fate unknown.

There would never be a day that didn’t remind Johnny of the person he took this body from. How could he? And it was...a weird feeling to be in a woman’s body. It was different when V was still around, there still felt like a distinction between them. But now that he  _ really  _ owned the body, there was always this...uneasiness. 

Honestly? Johnny felt right at home. He always knew that he’d make a pretty hot chick, though that part may just be thanks to V. On the sciency part of things, the relic had overwritten so much of her body’s code, there was nothing of V left. The uneasiness wasn't even physical...more visual, more auditory. When he heard himself speak or glanced at himself through glass, it felt like he was looking through a window of the past. He now stood in a place where a friend used to be; now he was in a body so different. Maybe it would have been a little different if V was a man, at least the dissonance wouldn’t be so extreme, so hard to bear at times.

Johnny was still in the grieving process, he thought. He knew he was going to say goodbye to V someday, but this wasn’t the way he wanted things to go. Even though he had been secretly afraid of what awaited him beyond the Blackwall, he was prepared, he’d had all the time to prepare. But V...she didn’t. Even though their psyche’s been untangled at that point, Johnny could still sense the raw terror she felt then. How scared she was of the unknown, how desperate she just wanted to  _ live.  _ But ultimately, V was tired.

The rawest human desires, Johnny understood completely. 

But despite all that, she shook his hand, gave him a smile, and crossed the bridge. Johnny had been scared of what laid beyond in cyberspace, but seeing V turn her back like that was a new kind of fear. V was his  _ only  _ true friend and he essentially sent her to a fate no one could predict. The emotions he felt then were so horrifyingly intense, Johnny could still feel it now. 

“Fuck.” He swore, trying to clear his mind. 

Johnny leaned back in the arms that were now his own, peeking through the holes in the torn roof into the night sky. The fireplace glowed warmly in the old rickety cabin he had taken shelter in for the night. He had taken the bus far out of night city, headin’ towards Arizona or anyplace that isn’t Night City. There were too many memories there, too many familiar faces he didn’t recognize. He had wanted to make peace with the people and life V had to leave behind, but he just couldn't do it. 

Call him a coward, sure. But how do you even break the news? ‘ _ Sorry, I took your friend’s body, she’s probably cruising deep cyberspace and you’ll never see her again, goodbye now.’  _ There was no way that was going to go well. He’s already gotten some sort of death threat from the Panam girl and Johnny can’t even imagine having to tell this to the Welles or Mox chick. He was sure Kerry would punch him. Not to mention, Rogue seemed pretty pissed at him too. There wasn't a place for him there.

No. As cruel as it would be to cut cold turkey, it would be better if he just slipped away quietly, let them grieve the broken connection however they want. Both he and V would fade away from their minds. Down the line, V would be just a distant memory to all of them, they can move on.

_ “But will you?”  _ An empty voice asked him in his head.

As much as he wanted that voice to be there, the thoughts that buzzed in his head were only his own, even if he pretended they weren’t. Imagination, but Johnny replied anyway. 

“Never.” He answered in a voice that sounded so foriegn, but familiar. “Can’t. Don’t wanna.”

He felt his eyes grow heavy as like clockwork, the thoughts just came rushing back. He could use a drink, but the guilt at the very thought made him sick to his stomach. Johnny didn’t want to be ungrateful, at this second chance of life, but this existence was torturous. 

“Ugh. Had enough of this.” He mumbled, can’t help speaking out loud anymore. Just was a habit nowadays. 

Johnny got up and threw himself down on the old dusty couch to hunker down for the night. Drifting off, he stared at the dark night sky through the cracks of the ceiling. If he looked hard enough, it sort of resembled cyberspace...right? 

So he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Even though the body had changed to fit him, it was like there were still ghostly remnants of the woman who used to live here. Scratches on the wall or a faint dusty footprint in the corner. Maybe even just the way things were placed. This was his place, but there was  _ still  _ something left here. Even if it was just a ghost.

Some days, Johnny dreamed of the times he had with V. Those were the nicer ones. Johnny recalled old spats they had or maybe just a small good moment they shared. That roller coaster had been pretty fun. 

Other times, he dreamed of her memories: how she grew up, her first kill, the fiasco in Atlanta, the heist, the terror she felt when she died. It all felt like he was watching one big braindance.

The worst days, Johnny dreamed of his own past. He hated being reminded of how he used to be. If he had just did things differently, then maybe V wouldn’t have...well, no use mulling over it now.

Today, however, it was a little different.

He found himself, weirdly in his own original form, in a dark place. It sort of resembled cyberspace, but the little bits of data twinkled like the stars in the night sky he had just been staring at earlier. Many of these data-stars twinkled across the dark plane. Johnny was aware that there was a diner table out before him. He couldn’t see it, but he just  _ knew  _ it was there.

Confused, he approached the absent-but-clearly-there table and sat down. Then he waited. Johnny wasn’t sure what  _ for,  _ but he got a gut feeling that if he waited here, something would come eventually. He folded his arms patiently and waited, didn’t kick his feet on the table this time. He’s different now.

There was suddenly a cold wind, or something resembling that. It brushed his shoulder, like someone’s hand, causing him to whirl around in shock. Nothing was there, but a voice suddenly announced it’s presence, on the other side of that diner table.

_ ‘Hey.‘ _

It wasn’t like the voice was  _ really  _ there, more like it just appeared in his head. But even if he couldn’t really hear it, Johnny knew who it belonged to. There was no way he was going to forget.

“V…?” He turned to meet the eyes of a distorted figure, chin propped up on one arm. 

This was V, he was sure of it. But her face was far too mangled to really see with one hundred percent certainty. She stared at him with a faceless expression. It seemed like her existence was having a hard time keeping it’s form. It was like she was melting and forming at the same time. Johnny was worried that if he blinked, V would be gone.

_ ‘You don’t have to speak out loud, y’know?‘ _

“Fuck that.” Johnny felt himself grin a little, hearing the line now used on him. Relief was washing him over something strong. “You’re V right? How are ya?”

V, or at least what he hoped was V, shifted around in her seat.  _ ‘Had a lot of time to kill.’ _

“Man, you have no idea how it’s good to see you.” continued Johnny, trying in vain to create some sort of conversation. 

V turned her gaze out the vast beyond.  _ ‘It’s quiet out there.’  _

The initial excitement was wearing off and Johnny was starting to pick up the utter sadness wafting through the air. This amalgamation of data was V, he was certain, but how much of this thing was the V he knew? 

‘ _ Jus’ wanted to talk.’  _

Johnny was getting uneasy. “Y’know, if you’re exploring the net and stuff, pretty sure your friends wouldn’t mind a visit. They miss ya. They keep droppin' you voicemails, could give them to you if you’d like?”

_ ‘How are you?’  _ V asked, completely dodging the question. It was starting to get frustrating, how this conversation seemed to go nowhere.

He shrugged. “Getting by I guess. Ditched Night City, trying somethin’ new.” He tapped the table with one of his free fingers. “Not gonna lie, hasn’t been easy, but...I won’t waste this chance. I’m practically a new man, or woman.

V smiled, at least Johnny thought she did. She was just a faceless data-ghost or something after all, but he knew. Somehow this response made Johnny feel relieved. There was always something deep inside him that wanted to tell V about how much he’s turned his life around. He would never get that chance to really tell her, but this was pretty close? 

She suddenly pointed at him, at the space between his hands. 

_ ‘Can you play a song?’  _

Confused, Johnny looked down and saw that he was already holding a guitar. Though it was kinda weird that it was just there, Johnny wasn’t really going to question things in this maybe-dream-maybe-something-else thing going on. Though nothing was said, there was this sense of urgency in the air, like this once in a lifetime meaning was never going to last.

“Any requests?”

_ ‘...Anything.’ _

What came to mind was the tune he played when he and V found a nice little hidey spot in Kabuki and just lazed around, soaking in the solitude. Johnny adjusted his grip and began playing the guitar, the tune and everything just falling into place.

For a while, all that filled the air was the gentle strumming of a guitar. 

The way it echoed in the empty plane made Johnny realize how small they really were in the vast stretches of this void. It was almost excruciating how it felt to hear one note end and fade away.

The sound, or rather the feeling, of someone sniffling caused Johnny to stop playing for a moment. He looked across the table and saw that V now had her head in her hands. She was crying. Seeing this, Johnny almost couldn’t find himself continuing, but he picked up the song again, this time framed by the cries of a lost digital ghost.

The sounds of falling tears seemed louder than the notes.

Eventually, his fingers faltered and Johnny realized after a moment that he was tearing up to. He stopped playing and just leaned back in his chair, gritting his teeth as he brought a hand to his face to catch any tears he might have shed. Even though he had stopped playing, the last strings of the song continued to echo all around them, sounding even lonelier than it did before. 

“Fuck.” Johnny swore, shaking his head.

They were just two friends, truly fucked by the cruel tragedies of the world. There was nothing to do,  _ but  _ to cry. Grieve. 

Move on.

_ ‘Thanks...for r'mbering me.’  _ Her voice echoed in his head.

“You know I won’t. Never forget, never will.” Johnny managed to say, feeling his emotions threatening to spill out. "See you lookin' back at me all the time."

V glitched for a moment, but now she was standing up, facing away. Her face was clearer now, her form wasn’t so skezzed up anymore. It was still hard to discern any type of humanity in the crumbled data that made up her form, but she looked ‘better’ than the mess of fluctuating code she was before. It all seemed...calm now.

_ ‘See ya around, Johnny.’ _

And like someone had switched off the TV, the whole scene ended. The scene sort of just zoomed away from him, across the dark plains. V was just standing there as she watched him go. Johnny reached his hand out to her, but was surprised to find that his original form had again been replaced by V’s.

Confused, Johnny flexed his hand and realized that he had just woken up from his sleep. The sun was peeking through the little cracks in the ceiling, illuminating the hand Johnny was holding up. 

Yawning, Johnny sat up to find himself just as he was before, in that rickety old cabin, out in some desert town somewhere. As he took a few moments to wake up, Johnny’s mind went back to what just happened.

Now, Johnny had never been a believer of the supernatural, the afterlife, or anything like that. There was physically no way that the V he saw in the dream was the real V, but the whole thing just felt so surreal. It gave Johnny goosebumps for how real it felt. Maybe even though Alt had severed their connection long ago, they still had a connection somehow.

“It’d be fucking dandy if that was all true, huh, V?” He asked in the air. Even if V wasn’t here, maybe she could still hear him. 

Taking a deep breath, Johnny hopped on his feet and leaned over to gather his things.

There was no time to lose, he had another bus to catch after all.

**Author's Note:**

> The Temperance ending really did me a good one. The whole ending is just so heavy and full of emotions, just a really good bittersweet ending. Honestly, if Cyberpunk 2077 was a movie, it would have the Temperance ending. It's probably the only ending that gives a sense of closure; the other endings are opened ended and don't provide much of an answer. But for Temperance, Johnny's now a changed man (or woman) and is starting his life anew. The future looks bright for him, it's just a big F in the chat for V though. 
> 
> I still think V is still ghosting around somewhere in Cyberspace, I doubt Alt crunched up and swallowed her code. The only reason I say that is because I don't think Alt would do that to Johnny and would think she at least extend that same curtesy to V. Johnny has a pretty strong personality so I think he would be able to retain his personality while in Cyberspace, but for V I'm not so sure. That's the reason I wrote V like this, though maybe it's because this V may be just a fragment of Johnny's memory of her? Whose to really say...
> 
> I was just feeling sad about the Temperance ending (I just did it through the (Don't Fear) the Reaper ending) and decided to write the this fic. Just a short oneshot thing to help tie up my feelings lol. Hoped you guys enjoyed!


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